Doubledecker bus tours

Did I mention how men here wear scarves around their necks as much as Canadian men wear baseball hats or t-shirts? It's not even to do with the weather! It's just what they do. Today I saw a man with a very playful big-polka-dotted scarf and I was so appreciative of how refined the men of Paris seem to be. The other day I saw a man walking his little dog with a glorious mane of silver/grey hair, a neat pair of jeans and good shoes, a blazer, a dress shirt and a cigarette.

As well, I must also add that I have yet to experience any sort of neglectful and cold service from any waiter or waitress here. The only person who seemed to have an attitude was that one cashier at Monoprix who literally tossed our reusable bag at the groceries we needed to hurry up and bag.

At the same time, I am speaking as much French as my brain and memory can handle. There are times when I'm not sure that I've said something correctly, so I tell them "pardonne, mon Francais est limitee" and they tell me "no---ees very goo-d". I will often ask "parlez-vous Anglais?" and then I will continue to ask them or respond to them in French where I can so as not to rely too heavily on their comprehension of English.

Thanks to my grade 7 (or was it 8?) group French project (a fruit salad we had to create for class), I had a use for "pamplemousse" today. Stacey, Christine & Kelly will love to hear that. As a side note, we were so last-minute that we basically brought a bowl and each of us brought some fruit and cut them into halves or quarters throwing them into the bowl as we named the fruits in French. We figured that the goal of the project was to say things in French, not serve an edible and appealing fruit salad.

Last night we decided that Thursday and Friday would be touring days using L'OpenTour (paris.opentour.com).

If you are someone who is researching these double-decker style bus tours in Paris, let me help you a bit:

L'Open Tour: only a few bucks more than the Big Bus Tour with 50 stops and 4 lines to travel on. The best option I found.

Big Bus Tour: this tour circulates close to the Seine and all the major attractions, similar to L'OpenTour's Green Line circuit but is probably a great choice for those who just want to see the "essentials"


Bustronome Tour: dinner on a double-decker bus (not open top) with lunch and dinner tours--pretty pricey. This one I only learned about in transit when I spotted it from the upper deck of our bus today.

FoxityTour: this one I had also only learned of today when I spotted it from the upper deck of our bus and haven't researched it, but it also didn't seem to come up in any major bus tour info from the websites that are most regularly suggested.


I'm loving the open top bus tour idea. It's a great way to be elevated above the tree line (mostly) and not have the view of traffic in the way (mostly) and you can plan which stops you want to get off to try and take in some side-interests that probably wouldn't be worth the hassle to visit in order to get back to the rest of Paris. It gives you access to most of Paris without having to walk it or having to burrow underground and figure out the Metro route to get to where you want to go (not that there isn't a sense of adventure in navigating the Metro).

We bought a 2-day pass on the L'OpenTour since it's only 4Euros extra to do so. Today we did the popular Green Line, tomorrow maybe we'll focus on another line. You can hop on and off between different circuits if you want, but with the sun beating down on you when you're not traveling under the shade of trees lining the smaller streets and boulevards, it can make it extra tiring.

Today we hopped off at the Printemps stop in order to have pizza for lunch at a little side-street pizzeria and instead went over the Galeries Lafayette because I had seen the gorgeous cupola and gold balconies facing into the center of the massive department store. It did not disappoint! However, I fell in love with a pair of shoes there, so I learned my lesson to stay out of the giant, opulent department stores who sell things you absolutely must have : )

This evening, my Gran and I chatted more about her life as a wife and mother and her entrance into the Nursing profession in her 40's. We experimented with a couple of red wines we bought at the Carrefour around the corner and cut off pieces of Beaufort and Brie cheese.

In a fantastic moment of female bonding, I showed her Lady Gaga's Oscar medley of Sound of Music songs and neither of us made to the end of the performance without crying--that's what kicked off the rest of the wine, cheese and baguette night lol.


Bon nuit mes amis xox

-Rachelle